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I'm working on a scene with a couple of enlisted MACOs talking to a Starfleet JAG lieutenant. In the dialogue, they are addressing him as 'LT' (pronounced el-tee). This is commonplace in today's Army (sort of like addressing a sergeant as 'sarge'), but I'm not sure of the best way to write it.

Here are my options:
"Sandoval, just shut up and let the LT talk," Bonnie said.
"Sandoval, just shut up and let the L T talk," Bonnie said.
"Sandoval, just shut up and let the el-tee talk," Bonnie said.
"Sandoval, just shut up and let the ell-tee talk," Bonnie said.
"Sandoval, just shut up and let the el tee talk," Bonnie said.

The problem with using 'LT' or 'L T' is that it looks like I'm just being lazy and abbreviating 'Lieutenant' instead of writing it out. It doesn't convey that the character is speaking each letter by name: el-tee.

The problem with el-tee is that it looks awkward. I'm concerned the reader might be thrown out of the story while they puzzle out who this 'el-tee' character is.

Any thoughts, preferences or recommendations?

"Sandoval, just shut up and let the el-tee talk," Bonnie said.

That seems the most natural way to me.

How about L-T?

Glad to hear you're writing!

Cogito has it correctly in my opinion, with a caveat. Only a person familiar with the officer and subordinate in his chain of command would use the term. And the person using it would have to be at a minimum a corporal. Privates and PFC's would just say sir, unless they had lost stripes....somehow

After due consideration, I have decided to use 'L-T' (Thanks, Alelou).

I think the dash would be a sufficient clue to most readers that the letters are pronounced individually and are not an abbreviation.

Yes, clueless reader will likely read it as 'lieutenant' but they'll move on. It's not perfect, but it is preferable to them stumbling over a construct like 'el-tee'. (And they WILL stumble; that's what clueless readers do, bless their hearts.)

I'm a writer, though, which t means I'll probably change it a dozen times before I submit the final copy. Or strike the scene in it's entirety. ('Cause that's what writers do, bless their hearts.)

I encountered "L-T" in a book recently and it read perfectly naturally to me.

This thread reminded me of a couple of stories from my Dad's time in the MoD. When these people answer the phone it's standard procedure for them to say what position they hold rather than their name - in other words they'd say "Engineering" rather than "Tucker". At one time, when he was the officer responsible for installation and inspection of electrics and electronics on a certain project, he was required to answer the phone with "E-I-E-I-O". Meanwhile, the officer responsible for managing planned installations and scheduled servicing for experimental aircraft was entitled to answer the phone with a brusque "Piss Off!".

More proof that Cog is brain damaged....